Page 226 of Ruthless Court

“She accused me of using her after I kissed her.”

Krista pauses while pulling on her dress.

“Maybe she’s smart enough to know you are.”

The line hits.

I don’t respond.

She grabs her shoes.

“You’ll get bored.”

“With Hannah?”

“With fighting for someone who makes you work this hard.”

I think about the library.

The film.

The gym.

Her asleep against my shoulder.

“No,” I say. “I don’t think I will.”

Krista’s face closes.

For the first time, I see the hurt beneath the anger.

“I wasn’t enough for a conversation, was I?”

The question lands differently from everything else.

I exhale.

“We wanted different things.”

“You thought I was boring.”

I don’t lie fast enough.

She nods once.

“Wow.”

“Krista—”

“Don’t.”

She slips into her shoes.

“You could have said something instead of fading out and letting me hear about Bookworm from everyone else.”

She’s right.

I handled it badly.